1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for the slicing of food products and for the onward transport of portions of a plurality of product slices arranged in a overlapping or stacked manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
In such apparatuses, the risk exists that the structure of the portions is disturbed in the onward transport, in particular to a further processing unit, which is disposed downstream of the slicing unit also termed a slicer. In known apparatuses, the onward transport of the portions is realized in connection with the onward transport, and in particular with the transfer of portions to a processing unit disposed downstream of a slicing unit, with a comparatively large design effort, for example in that excess belt lengths of transport belts are taken up by means of one or more compensation rolls. This does not only mean a disadvantageous additional effort, but also increases the proneness of the apparatus to disturbance.
It is the object of the invention to provide an apparatus of the kind first mentioned with which portions of sliced product slices arranged in an overlapping or stacked manner can be transported onward with the lowest possible disturbance of the portion structure formed on the overlapping or stacking, and can in particular be transferred to a further processing unit, with this in particular being possible with a low construction effort and without increasing the proneness to disturbance of the apparatus and without the operating routine and the operating speed of the apparatus being impaired.
This object is satisfied by the features of claim 1 and in particular in that a transfer unit is arranged between a slicing unit and a further processing unit, in particular a packaging machine, arranged beneath the slicing unit and the portions can be transferred to it from the slicing unit and the portions can be transferred from it to the processing unit, with the transfer unit comprising a product support having an at least substantially horizontally extending support surface for, in each case, at least one portion to be transferred, and with the product support being movablexe2x80x94for the acceptance of a portion coming from the slicing unitxe2x80x94synchronously with the portion and being movable away with the portion lying on it in an abrupt like manner under the portion for the dispensing of the received portion from a transfer position in which the portion is located above a product receiver of the processing unit.
In accordance with the invention, the portions are each dropped into the product receiver, whereby the portion structure is not disturbed. The abrupt moving away of the product support means that the portions, in a certain manner, xe2x80x9chave the ground pulled out from underneath themxe2x80x9d and it is thus ensured that the relative position of the individual product slices is not changed by interactions between the support surface and the product slices contacting the support surface.
The sudden moving away of the product support in accordance with the invention can be compared with the pulling away of a tablecloth, wherexe2x80x94pre-supposing a sufficiently high pulling-away speedxe2x80x94crockery previously standing on the table remains in place without changing its position in the plane of the table. The portions which, in accordance with the invention, are robbed of their support from one moment to the nextxe2x80x94like the crockery standing on the tablexe2x80x94remain in their original horizontal position and subsequently carry out only a falling movement into the product receiver.
The synchronization in accordance with the invention between the movement of the product support and the portions transported by the slicing unit ensures that, on the acceptance of the portions, their structure formed at the slicing unit is also maintained in unchanged form.
The product support can preferably be moved away by a movement of the transfer unit extending substantially horizontally. The horizontal movability of the product support has the advantage that no space is needed beneath the product support as is e.g. the case with an apparatus which can be flapped down or which can be pivoted downward. The height of drop for the portions robbed of their support can be minimized in this manner.
In accordance with a preferred practical aspect of the invention, the transfer unit includes an endless belt guided over deflection rolls as the product support. For the dispensing of a portion lying on the upper run of the endless band, the deflection rolls are preferably abruptly moved away in the substantially horizontal direction.
The support surface of the transfer unit is here formed by the upper run of the endless belt also designated as a belt band. An endless belt moreover makes it possible to abruptly remove the support of the portions abruptly in a particularly advantageous manner which is described in the following.
In accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, a holding device is namely associated with the transfer unit and the upper run of the endless belt can be fixed by said holding device with respect to the direction of moving away in particular by clamping at a position disposed behind the supported portion in the direction of moving away.
The support surface formed by the upper run of the endless belt is hereby not disposed in parallel as a whole. The endless belt rather rolls away under the portion. The transfer unit can thus be designated as a dispenser from which the portions are rolled off, and indeed without a relative movement taking place in the plane of the support surface between the upper run of the endless belt and the supported product slices.
In accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper run of the endless belt is supported by a support member arranged between the upper run and the lower run.
The support member is preferably connected to the deflection rolls and can be coupled to an actuation device for the carrying out of the movement away from the product support.
A stable support for the portions lying on the upper run of the endless belt is present with the support member which is preferably provided in the form of a sheet metal support. The support member can thus ensure an optimum horizontal alignment of the portions. At the same time, due to is coupling to the deflection rolls, the support member serves as an actuation member at which a drive device can act in order to move the deflection rolls out of the transfer position.
The moving away speed of the deflection rolls preferably amounts to some m/s, with the speed preferably lying in a range from approximately 1 to 4 m/s, in particular preferably from approximately 2 to 3 m/s. In practice, a speed value of approximately 2.5 m/s has proved to be particularly suitable.
A further embodiment of the invention is characterized in that the transfer unit can be moved in an approximately horizontal direction for the acceptance of a portion as a whole, and in particular with an endless belt which is stationary with respect to the deflection rolls, synchronously with a portion coming from the slicing apparatus.
The transfer unit is thus moved as a whole in each case for the reception of the individual portions, with it preferably being provided that, as soon as the respective portion lies completely on the endless belt, the transfer unit is already located in the transfer position in which the portion is above the product receiver of the processing machine. The transfer unit is preferably already moved directly into that position from which it is again moved back abruptly for the transfer of the received portion to the processing unit on the receiving of a portion. The transfer unit can consequently be periodically moved to and fro between the transfer position and the retracted position, with the movement into the transfer position taking place comparatively slowly in accordance with the speed at which the portions are successively led on in the manner pre-set by the operating cycle of the apparatus, while the return movement from the transfer position takes place at a comparatively high speed.